Vikings Signing Former First Round Pick Defensive Tackle

Jerry Tillery was released by the Raiders last week.

Author:
Will Ragatz
Publish date:
Mar 14, 2024 2:22 PM EDT

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The Vikings are signing ex-Raiders defensive tackle Jerry Tillery, a former Chargers first-round pick, to a one-year deal worth up to $3.75 million, per Tom Pelissero. It'll be interesting to see how much of that figure is guaranteed.

Tillery, 27, was the 28th overall pick out of Notre Dame in 2019 after having eight sacks as a senior. He played in 54 games with Los Angeles, starting 29 of them, and recorded 10.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He played over 700 snaps in both 2020 and 2021, but never recorded a PFF grade above 50.

The Chargers released Tillery in November 2022, and he was claimed by the Raiders. Last year, he played in all 17 games for Las Vegas (with six starts), and PFF thought it was the best season of his career. He earned a career-high 67.7 grade with 29 pressures and two sacks.

The Vikings desperately needed to add to their defensive tackle room, and this is a fairly low-risk acquisition who comes with a little bit of upside. Tillery, who is 6'6" and 295 pounds, has 124 career pressures in five seasons. He posted elite athletic testing numbers coming out of college, earning a 9.72 RAS. As we've learned over the past couple years, Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah likes to take chances on disappointing former top picks and players with good athletic tools.

Tillery joins Harrison Phillips, Jonathan Bullard, and Jaquelin Roy in the Vikings' defensive tackle room. Unless Roy takes a big leap, he's probably now the best pass-rusher in that group. Minnesota would be well-served to continue adding to that room.